Navigating Work-Life Balance: Assessing the Impact of Remote Work During and Beyond the Covid-19 Pandemic in the ITES Industry

Abstract

An important aspect to address when it comes to the physical health, mental well-being, and productivity of employees is understanding how remote work has changed their work-life balance. As the COVID-19 pandemic has a large part remote work, many organizations have shifted to working remotely. The disconcertingly fast change has caused many to question the effect on work-life balance, whether it's improved during the pandemic and what can we do now and after COVID-19 to improve. Literature review on academic papers related to COVID-19 and remote work in ITES (Information Technology Enabled Services) sector using the databases of Google scholar, Sage Publications and EBSCO. Other studies reviewed included those in the domains of remote work and work-life balance. There is a need for work-life balance change as remote workers in ITES industry literature showed the scenario changed drastically post pandemic. In the future, organizations and ITES employees will need continuous support to leverage on successful remote work capabilities. The professionalism of Career development policies in the organizations can go a long way to support people who have faced challenges during remote working like Stress, Burnout, overwork tendencies and overcoming the odds of acting normal after pandemic is over.

Keywords: Remote Work (RW), Hybrid Work Models (HWM), Work-Life Balance (WLB), COVID – 19 (CD), Company Policies (CP)